Thousands of Syrians celebrate in central Damascus during first Friday prayers since Assad's fall

DAMASCUS (AP) — Exuberant Syrians observed the first Friday prayers since the ouster of President Bashar Assad, gathering in the capital's historic main mosque, its largest square and around the country to celebrate the end of half a century of authoritarian rule.

The gatherings illustrated the dramatic changes that have swept over Syria less than a week after insurgents marched into Damascus and toppled Assad. Amid the jubilation, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with allies around the region and called for an “inclusive and non-sectarian” interim government.

Blinken arrived in Iraq on a previously unannounced stop after talks in Jordan and Turkey, which backs some of the Syrian insurgent factions. So far, U.S. officials have not talked of direct meetings with Syria's new rulers.

The main insurgent force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has worked to establish security and start a political transition after seizing Damascus early Sunday. The group has tried to reassure a public both stunned by Assad's fall and concerned about extremist jihadis among the rebels. Insurgent leaders say the group has broken with its extremist past, though HTS is still labeled a terrorist group by the United States and European countries.

HTS's leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, appeared in a video message Friday congratulating “the great Syrian people for the victory of the blessed revolution.”

“I invite them to head to the squares to show their happiness without shooting bullets and scaring people,” he said. “And then after, we will work to build this country, and as I said in the beginning, we will be victorious by the help of God.”

Huge crowds, including some insurgents, packed Damascus' historic Umayyad Mosque in the capital's old city, many waving the rebel opposition flag — with its three red stars — which has swiftly replaced the Assad-era flag with with its two green stars.

According to Arab television stations, the Friday sermon was delivered by Mohammed al-Bashir, the interim prime minister installed by HTS this week.

The scene resonated on multiple levels. The mosque, one of the world's oldest dating back some 1,200 years, is a beloved symbol of Syria, and sermons there like all mosque sermons across Syria had been tightly controlled under Assad's rule.

Also, in the early days of the anti-government uprising in 2011, protesters would leave Friday prayers to march in rallies against Assad before he launched a brutal crackdown that turned the uprising into a long and bloody civil war.

“I didn’t step foot in Umayyad Mosque since 2011," because of the tight security controls around it, said one worshipper, Ibrahim al-Araby. “Since 11 or 12 years, I haven’t been this happy.”

Another worshipper, Khair Taha, said there was “fear and trepidation for what’s to come. But there is also a lot of hope that now we have a say and we can try to build.”

Blocks away in Damascus' biggest roundabout, named Umayyad Square, thousands gathered, including many families with small children — a sign of how, so far at least, the country's transformation has not seen violent instability.

“Unified Syria to build Syria,” the crowd chanted. Some shouted slurs against Assad and his late father, calling them pigs, an insult that would have previously led to offenders being hauled off to one of the feared detention centers of Assad’s security forces.

One man in the crowd, 51-year-old Khaled Abu Chahine — originally from the southern province of Daraa, where the 2011 uprising first erupted — said he hoped for “freedom and coexistence between all Syrians, Alawites, Sunnis, Shiites and Druze.”

The interim prime minister, al-Bashir, had been the head of a de facto administration created by HTS in Idlib, the opposition's enclave in northwest Syria. The rebels were bottled up in Idlib for years before fighters broke out in a shock offensive and marched across Syria in 10 days.

Similar scenes of joy unfolded in other major cities, including in Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Latakia and Raqqa.

Al-Sharaa, HTS' leader, has promised to bring a pluralistic government to Syria, seeking to dispel fears among many Syrians — especially its many minority communities — that the insurgents will impose a hard-line, extremist rule.

Another key factor will be winning international recognition for a new government in a country where multiple foreign powers have their hands in the mix.

The Sunni Arab insurgents who overthrew Assad did so with vital help from Turkey, a longtime foe of the U.S.-backed Kurds. Turkey controls a strip of Syrian territory along the shared border and backs an insurgent faction uneasily allied to HTS — and is deeply opposed to any gains by Syria's Kurds.

In other developments, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey’s Embassy in Damascus would reopen Saturday for the first time since 2012, when it closed due to the Syrian civil war.

The U.S. has troops in eastern Syria to combat remnants of the Islamic State group and supports Kurdish-led fighters who rule most of the east. Since Assad's fall, Israel has bombed sites all over Syria, saying it is trying to prevent weapons from falling into extremist hands, and has seized a swath of southern Syria along the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, calling it a buffer zone.

After talks with Fidan, Blinken said there was “broad agreement” between Turkey and the U.S. on what they would like to see in Syria.

That starts with an "interim government in Syria, one that is inclusive and non-sectarian and one that protects the rights of minorities and women” and does not “pose any kind of threat to any of Syria’s neighbors,” Blinken said.

Fidan said the priority was “establishing stability in Syria as soon as possible, preventing terrorism from gaining ground, and ensuring that IS and the PKK aren’t dominant” — referring to the Islamic State group and the Kurdistan Workers Party.

Ankara considers the PKK within Turkey's borders a terrorist group, as it does the Kurdish-backed forces in Syria backed by the U.S.

A U.S. official said that in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Fidan both told Blinken that Kurdish attacks on Turkish positions would have to be responded to. The official spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic talks.

The U.S. has been trying to limit such incidents in recent days and had helped organize an agreement to prevent confrontations around the northern Syrian town of Manbij, which was taken by Turkey-backed opposition fighters from the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces earlier this week.

In Baghdad, Blinken met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani, saying both countries wanted to ensure the Islamic State group — also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh — doesn't exploit Syria's transition to re-emerge.

“Having put Daesh back in its box, we can’t let it out, and we’re determined to make sure that that doesn’t happen," Blinken said.

The U.S. official who briefed reporters said that Blinken had impressed upon al-Sudani the importance of Iraq exercising its full sovereignty over its territory and airspace to stop Iran from transporting weapons and equipment to Syria, either for Assad supporters or onward to the militant Hezbollah group in Lebanon.

Lee reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press Writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed to this report.

Israeli tanks park on the buffer zone after the Quneitra crossing, between Israel and Syria, are viewed from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

An Israeli flag waves on the top of a hill near the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from Syria, in the town of Majdal Shams, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Syrians display a giant "revolutionary" Syrian flag during a celebratory demonstration following the first Friday prayers since Bashar Assad's ouster, in Damascus' central square, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Syrians attend Friday prayers inside the 7th century Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

A man waves a flare during a celebratory demonstration following the first Friday prayers since Bashar Assad's ouster, in Damascus' central square, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Syrians celebrate during a demonstration following the first Friday prayers since Bashar Assad's ouster, in Damascus' central square, Syria, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Syrian member of the rebel group celebrates during a demonstration following the first Friday prayers since Bashar Assad's ouster, in Damascus' central square, Syria, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Syrian women flash victory signs with the colour of "revolutionary" Syrian flag on their faces, during a celebratory demonstration following the first Friday prayers since Bashar Assad's ouster, in Damascus' central square, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Syrians attend Friday prayers inside the 7th century Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syrians fighters and civilians chant slogans as they gather for Friday prayers at the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Syrians walk toward he Umayyad mosque for Friday prayers in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A young man poses holding a gun before Friday prayer at the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Syrians listen a Muslim cleric as they attend Friday prayers inside the 7th century Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syrians attend Friday prayers inside the 7th century Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syrians attend Friday prayers inside the 7th century Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syrians attend Friday prayers outside the 7th century Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syrians attend Friday prayers outside the 7th century Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syrians attend Friday prayers inside the 7th century Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syrians gather outside the 7th century Umayyad Mosque after Friday prayers in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syrians perform Friday prayers inside the 7th century Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syrians attend Friday prayers inside the 7th century Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syrian fighters on military uniform arrive at the Umayyad mosque for Friday prayers in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Syrians chant slogans and wave the new Syrian flag as they gather for Friday prayers at the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution’s suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies before sentencing. They called the idea “absurd.”

The Manhattan district attorney's office is asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to “pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a blistering 23-page response.

In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump’s lawyers filed paperwork earlier this month asking for the case to be dismissed.

Those options include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won't include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn't sentenced and his appeal wasn’t resolved because of presidential immunity.

Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday that the only acceptable option to them is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined comment.

It’s unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump’s request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution’s suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option.

In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution’s suggestions.

Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the “ongoing threat” that he’ll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20.

“To be clear, President Trump will never deviate from the public interest in response to these thuggish tactics,” the defense lawyers wrote. “However, the threat itself is unconstitutional.”

The prosecution’s suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. If anything, the immunity statute should require dropping the case altogether, not merely limiting the judge’s sentencing options, they argued.

Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump has tabbed for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution’s novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump had died.

Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to “fabricate” a solution “based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump" who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September “and a hypothetical dead defendant.”

Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what’s already a unique case.

“This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding,” prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn’t “precipitously discard” the “meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers.”

Prosecutors acknowledged that “presidential immunity requires accommodation” during Trump’s impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend a jury’s finding that came while he was out of office.

Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Other world leaders don’t enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a friend of Trump’s, is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza.

Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies.

In their filing Friday, Trump’s lawyers citing a social media post in which Sen. John Fetterman used profane language to criticize Trump’s hush money prosecution. The Pennsylvania Democrat suggested that Trump deserved a pardon, comparing his case to that of President Joe Biden’s pardoned son Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges.

“Weaponizing the judiciary for blatant, partisan gain diminishes the collective faith in our institutions and sows further division,” Fetterman wrote Wednesday on Truth Social.

Trump’s hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes.

Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith has ended his two federal cases, which pertained to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in all.

Trump had been scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November. But following Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president’s sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case.

Merchan also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds.

A dismissal would erase Trump’s conviction, sparing him the cloud of a criminal record and possible prison sentence. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.

FILE - Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court during jury deliberations in his criminal hush money trial in New York, May 30, 2024. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool, File)